What state has the best looking coins out of the ground ?

[Brucem]

Is drier ground the key to good looking coins? Most of the coins I'm digging up are barely recognizable. Whats the best way to clean them up without destroying them? My grand father used to collect coins and once in awhile he would lightly coat some with Olive oil. Rub it in with his fingers and then pat them dry. He told me it was to put some moisture in the coin. It seemed to make them look better.
I tried hot water and a soft toothbrush which did nothing. I'm assuming its the highly mineralized soil in New England or maybe the northeast that ruins them ? I was going to post images, but there isn't much to look at.

 

[IDXMonster]

Copper and really old nickels(more copper) around here are toast. I believe it has to do with chemicals farmers and grounds workers put down, combined with moisture. I don’t really know but it’s VERY infrequently that I dig a good looking Indian or wheat, they’re basically all junk.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Moisture, moisture, moisture.

I'm lucky enough to detect a few areas that have sandy soil vs clay. I live forty miles east of IDXMonster on a river valley. Most of the coppers I dig here are in wonderfully nice shape. Many IHs and LCs come out of the ground with a beautiful patina and clean up nicely. Thirty miles east of me the soil has a high clay content and holds moisture and most of the coins are crusty and green and won't clean well no matter what you do. My family has a cabin in Northern MN that has even sandier soil. Some copper comes out copper colored. I've found dropping copper in boiling H2O2 does the best to clean, if that doesn't work probably nothing will. Attached are coins I've dug locally.

Chris(SoCenWI)

 

[Brucem]

Thanks didn't know boiling them in water helped, I'll try it right away. Thats a great looking Indian BTW!

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Not water (H2O), but hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Put some in the microwave, heat it up to boiling, then dump the coins in. Let sit for a few minutes, the wipe with a soft cloth and redo if needed. I have hundreds of wonderful looking dug coppers similar to what I attached (Not sure how the picture of the four IHs got rotated, see the die cracks on the 1867?).... And hundreds that are crusted up beyond belief. I've tried olive oil, electrolysis, ketchup, vinegar, abrasives, TNT, tumbling, etc., etc. Very seldom good results. Location, location, location on where the coins are dug.

Basically if coins stay wet for any length of time then ground mineralization, farm chemicals, gopher poop, social media, etc. will cause an electro chemical reaction that destroys the coins. Silver is much less reactive.

Chris(SoCenWI)

 

[Xxray]

MI known to be easy on coins, at least in my area, this one I only used soapy water and a toothbrush on, looks as good as the day it was dropped. Was a street tearout, soil was mixed with sand. Salt & chemicals obviously this biggest destroyers of metal I would think.

 

[bottlecap4u]

Found both relics and coppers in sandy soil, absent fertilizers produces quality.

 

[60streeter]

Is drier ground the key to good looking coins? Most of the coins I'm digging up are barely recognizable. Whats the best way to clean them up without destroying them? My grand father used to collect coins and once in awhile he would lightly coat some with Olive oil. Rub it in with his fingers and then pat them dry. He told me it was to put some moisture in the coin. It seemed to make them look better.
I tried hot water and a soft toothbrush which did nothing. I'm assuming its the highly mineralized soil in New England or maybe the northeast that ruins them ? I was going to post images, but there isn't much to look at.

I don't think you can go by state... here in Mass. I recover totally toasted coins, and then I have dug some incredible coins from the 1700's. More about ground soil and geography. fertilized farm field or sandy soil of an old early settler cabin site....... pines or oaks... etc

 

[hoser]

Lots of sand here in our area and the coins come out in real good shape for the most part. Even in the woods if the soil is loamy sandy soil they look great. Get into the wet mucky black dirt things change and not for the best.

 

[MasonDixonMding]

Here in my area central Maryland you don’t find very many good looking coins come out of the ground. As others have said moisture. Some times you can dig a coin where one side is in good shape and the other is toast. I thing the good side was facing down and that helped protect it. As long as I can get a ID on a old coin I’m happy. Even better a date.

 

[Brucem]

Well here's my wonderful collection from the other day. The one about the size of a quarter, which I thought was a foreign coin, turned out to be, well you'll see. I almost fell over when I recognized it. The one about the size of a dime is pretty much unrecognizable.

 

[maxxkatt]

I am just making a guess that it would be the western dry states. For two reasons, drier soil and the great Morgan Silver dollar was more often used in circulation in the western states than in east of the Mississippi River in LC territory.

 

[Brucem]

That sounds about right. I did try the Hydrogen Peroxide, and it did get rid of some of the debris, but the dime is pretty much lost to the ground at this point. The "real" copper cents give the better signal and the silver (If I ever find any) I imagine will probably fair the best in the soil around here.

 

[Cherry Picker]

Here in southwest Kansas, the ground tends to be pretty mild on buried goods. Now in the field where fertilizer and other chemicals are used, they can be ragged.

 

[too_pointer]

Moisture, moisture, moisture.

I'm lucky enough to detect a few areas that have sandy soil vs clay. I live forty miles east of IDXMonster on a river valley. Most of the coppers I dig here are in wonderfully nice shape. Many IHs and LCs come out of the ground with a beautiful patina and clean up nicely. Thirty miles east of me the soil has a high clay content and holds moisture and most of the coins are crusty and green and won't clean well no matter what you do. My family has a cabin in Northern MN that has even sandier soil. Some copper comes out copper colored. I've found dropping copper in boiling H2O2 does the best to clean, if that doesn't work probably nothing will. Attached are coins I've dug locally.

Chris(SoCenWI)View attachment 595454View attachment 595455View attachment 595456

WOW, what beautiful coins, and so many greens on the IH's
too_

 

[Rasyfromwayupnorth]

Is drier ground the key to good looking coins? Most of the coins I'm digging up are barely recognizable. Whats the best way to clean them up without destroying them? My grand father used to collect coins and once in awhile he would lightly coat some with Olive oil. Rub it in with his fingers and then pat them dry. He told me it was to put some moisture in the coin. It seemed to make them look better.
I tried hot water and a soft toothbrush which did nothing. I'm assuming its the highly mineralized soil in New England or maybe the northeast that ruins them ? I was going to post images, but there isn't much to look at.

Not just dry, but free of acidic compounds and minerals (things like that). For example, ground fertilizers used for farming plus moisture will damage most coins, even silver ones. However, gold is not affected very much by bad ground conditions. Aluminum, copper, bronze, and even some types of stainless-steel can corrode. There are some areas around Lake Champlain that are quite sandy. This sand is quite clear in color, plus thick-grainy unlike sea sand. While there may be a few inches of top soil on the surface that may contain moisture, any coins in the sand underneath tend to be in good shape. Well, it was this way when I had the chance to metal-detect some of these areas in the mid '80s. Maybe things are different now.

When watching videos of "detectorists" in some of the plowed fields of New England, I have noticed that even silver coins come out of the ground with a dull finish. These coins look like they are made of aluminum instead of silver. The ground is moist, and probably quite acidic (maybe it contains fertilizers).

 

[GTimberMT]

Montana treats silver coins VERY well. I dug this up a few inches deep in some very old dirt.